This latest update, due out later today available now, sees the launch of "groups," putting the service in direct competition with the most popular desktop client for Twitter: TweetDeck. Where AlertThingy surpasses its competition, though, is in its integration of multiple social networks, the most significant of which are Facebook, Flickr, and Digg.

Although TweetDeck's recent update integrates a column with a stream of your Facebook friends' updates, with AlertThingy you can create multiple groups of friends from multiple networks. Once you get your head around it, the grouping of friends works surprisingly well. But unfortunately, it does currently have one major drawback (mainly for Twitter users, who tend to follow many people), which we'll address below.

This release of AlertThingy does unleash one particularly outstanding feature: deep search. AlertThingy's search capabilities allow you to use whatever search terms you like across all your groups, feeds, and networks, remarkably fast.

Limitations

Given TweetDeck's phenomenal rise to success and recent feature developments, any desktop alert-oriented application will have to face comparison, particularly if it incorporates groups.

Aside from a few minor bugs and time lags in switching views, we were frustrated by two things in particular with AlertThingy:

1. It is not efficient in creating groups for Twitter users who follow more than 1000 people. Although you can receive updates from everyone as normal, you aren't able to receive the full list of Twitter contacts as you would with TweetDeck.
2. In terms of usability, figuring out how to view Twitter replies and direct messages took far too long. Learning which view to select to create groups was also frustrating. And adding one's various networks and RSS feeds felt needlessly complex.

That said, after some time getting to grips with the application, we have many nice things to say about the social networking client. The UI in and of itself is clean and easy on the eye; the process of merging friends from various networks into a single group is superb; and, once understood, the various viewing options are a solid, worthwhile feature.

When all is said and done, however, devoted TweetDeck users, who account for approximately 13% of all Twitter users, would likely miss the overall slickness of the leading Twitter client. Among the features noticeably missing from AlertyThingy are the ability to modify theming options, to move columns left and right, to receive separate notifications for separate groups, and to view user profiles within the application.

Conclusion

AlertThingy is unquestionably a strong player in the Twitter and social network client market. With its impressive feature set and clear direction, AlertThingy certainly has potential. If it focuses on usability, flushes out bugs, adds a couple of missing features, and works on configuration for groups, it could overtake other applications, including TweetDeck, in the not-too-distant future.

Wakoopa has not just collated the most popular Windows, Mac, and web applications, but it's also identified newcomers that showed prolific growth during 2008.

1. Wakoopa is a relatively small community, composed primarily of tech fanatics and early adopters. The statistics reflect that.

2. The applications mentioned aren't necessarily the most frequently visited applications, but rather those that people have spent the most time actively using; that is, those with the highest user engagement levels.

PC

On Windows, it's no surprise to see Firefox and Internet Explorer as the top two most-used applications. Google Chrome is the only new release of the year to have made the list, showing extremely impressive growth from the moment of its release in September. Chrome does, however, still sit behind Opera in terms of overall usage, while Apple's Safari seems to have been left behind, at least on Windows.

The most popular new application of 2008 has been instant messaging client Digsby, with steady growth throughout the course of the year. Games such as Fallout 3, Left 4 Dead, and Trackmania have all shown positive growth, though primarily at the time of their release, with growth cooling off rapidly thereafter.

Mac

Once again, we see browsers Firefox and Safari leading the way on the Mac, closely followed by instant messaging client Adium. iTunes is a surprising miss on the most-used applications list for Windows (in fact, no media player made it); however, on OS X, iTunes is the platform's most popular media player, landing in fourth place on the list. VLC and QuickTime follow in a respectable 6th and 7th place.

Mail, the Mac's email client, remains popular in 5th place, impressive considering the rapid growth of web-based email clients such as Gmail. The one common application on both the Windows and Mac lists is World of Warcraft; clearly the game is both "a Mac and a PC."

In terms of new apps, the Mac welcomed a host of wonderful applications in 2008. Desktop media player Plex has shown impressive uptake, closely followed by the Pro-Tweeters Twitter client Tweetdeck. Although still in private beta, cross-platform media player Boxee has seen superb success thus far, and that looks set to continue upon its public release in early 2009. Other newcomers include social browser Cruz and recently released social media tool Eventbox, both very creative social applications in their own rights.

Mac vs. PC

There are a number of notable differences in usage between Mac and PC applications. First, the exclusion of any web development tools from the Windows list could highlight web developers' preferences for other platforms: OS X and Linux. The most notable absentees on the Mac list are word processors and desktop publishing tools; however, TextMate and Adobe Photoshop's appearance corroborates the general preference among creatives for the Mac as a platform.

Another difference is the number of media players on the Mac list, yet not a single mention of one on the PC's -- perhaps further indication that the PC is used primarily for its enterprise and office applications. It's also interesting to see the iPhone Simulator make an appearance on the top 10 newcomers list for the Mac, yet no mention on Windows. Evidently, Mac users are the iPhone's primary source of developers.

Web

The top ten most-used web-based applications are no surprise. Facebook ranks highest, beating heavyweights Gmail, Google Search, Wikipedia, and YouTube. Gmail is the only web-based email client to make the top ten list, highlighting its popularity over other web-based email services, particularly among early adopters and tech-minded individuals. The most significant appearance on the web's most-used list is FriendFeed, ranking higher than both MySpace and Flickr; clearly 2008 has been a great year for FriendFeed.

Summary

The biggest cross-platform winners come from the online gaming sector, with Spore and World of Warcraft both showing incredible growth and sustainability. While clearly it's no surprise that Mozilla's Firefox leads the desktop applications on both platforms, rival browser Chrome is likely to show strong growth, especially once Linux and OS X versions of the browser are released.

Online, Facebook usage reigns supreme. The social network's user engagement levels are astonishing. With 2.6 billion minutes spent on Facebook each day, over 50% of users logging in daily, and 140 million active users, it's easy to see why Facebook is Wakoopa's most-used web application. However, despite Facebook's ranking at number 1, it is Google that should be crowned overall online leader, with four of the top five most-used applications on the web.

TimeBridge's stand-out feature is the simplicity with which it gives recipients alternative times and dates for each appointment. The appointment organizer sends out invitations with five optional times, and attendees are requested to select "Yes," "No," or "Best." If a particular time appears to be the "Best" for all attendees, TimeBridge will automatically set it as the time of the appointment. Otherwise, TimeBridge notifies the organizer of the alternatives and awaits confirmation.

We'll go into TimeBridge and other scheduling applications, such as Doodle and Tungle, in more detail in an upcoming post.

The service is called Storytlr (a play on story teller) and it allows members to create their own lifestreaming service at their own URL. It's similar to the recently launched services Swurl (our review) and Sweetcron, but Storytlr has a few really neat tricks up its sleeve.

After you've signed up you are requested to complete the now predictable yet painless connecting of your twitter, flickr, last.fm etc. accounts. So far so good.

One of the cool things that Storytlr surprises you with is that it allows you to manually insert your own content directly onto the site. This content can be a simple tweet-like message, a full blog post, an image or even an audio file. I love that Storytlr imports all Tweets but it automatically hides all @reply messages so they don't clutter up your lifestream and don't get published to the public unless you specifically request that the are.

The end result is essentially a blog, see mine here, where visitors can comment on your content the same way you would on any normal blog. Storytlr offers a number of widgets you can include or remove and four customizable themes.

And Now For Something Completely New

Storytlr brings something completely new to the lifestreaming game and this part is where it gets its name. We discovered the service in a post by Ernst-Jan Pfauth titled "No more standard lifestreams please, be creative!" This part is where Pfauth gets his wish. You'll notice a tab on your public profile where you can create "stories". You can think of "stories" as all the tweets, posts and media about a particular event compiled into one. A story is like a topical collection of items. To create a story is very straightforward, simply select the dates this "story" or event occurred and select which content you would like to have included. Storytlr puts all this together into a little slideshow showing all your selected tweets, videos and photographs. You can see an example of one by clicking the image below.

Storytlr really does bring something new to the lifestreaming fanatics out there and I plan to make the most out of it myself. There is still room for improvement and a few bugs to iron out. I would love to be able to customize the design of my Storytlr site entirely and I would also like to see my content added much faster (think Friendfeed fast). However, for a brand new app they've done a fantastic job with both concept and implementation.

This is Part 1 of a 5-part series in ReadWriteWeb's Enterprise Channel. Part 1 covers everything from a physical perspective. What, ideally, you need to have to make the digital office run. In subsequent parts, we will cover browser, web apps, mobile, and more.

LAPTOP

Recommendation: The Mac Book Pro

Why?: Primarily, OS X - arguably the best operating system out there. In terms of hardware however, the MBP's form factor, strength, wireless connectivity, long battery life, speed, memory, improved graphics card, multi touch trackpad and decent sized hard drive all wrapped up in a beautiful metallic case should be enough to convince you.

Asus U2E, Sony Vaoi TZ31MN, Macbook, Macbook Air, Asus EeePC 900

PHONE

Recommendation: Blackberry Bold

Why?: Let me be clear. I'm an iPhone user and I'll openly admit I have yet to use the blackberry bold. However, I have used almost every previous blackberry and from reviews by gizmodo, engadget and a number of gadget sites - this is the best blackberry ever. However, the main reason I have selected the Blackberry Bold over the iPhone is because of the downfalls of the current 3G iPhone rather than the excellence of the Blackberry Bold. Running your digital office you need to ensure you have access to your email, contacts and a solid long lasting battery - the iPhone is still not reliable enough on both of these points. If this post was more about the Social Media Guru's device list... yes, the iPhone would definitely be my phone of choice. Although of course, with an external battery attachment! We are, however, discussing the digital office and the iPhone is not there yet and won't be until battery life is extended, bugs are ironed out, multifunctionality between local apps is implemented and yes, email and connectivity issues are corrected.

Alternatives: iPhone, Treo Pro, Nokia E66 / E71, HTC Touch Cruise

MOBILE BROADBAND

US: Sprint / AT&T

UK: O2 / T-Mobile / Vodafone / 3

The Should Haves

EXTRA BATTERY FOR MOBILE & LAPTOP

EXTRA CHARGER FOR MOBILE & LAPTOP

WIRELESS MOUSE

Recommendation: Logitech VX Nano Cordless

Why?: Stylish, small but not too small, super precise and smooth maneuvering. Very convenient to just need the small usb plugin which can be left in your laptop all the time. Above all though, it's very very cool.

Price: $45.00

Alternatives: Apple Mighty Mouse, Logitech MX Revolution

WIRELESS KEYBOARD

Recommendation: Apple Wireless Keyboard

Why?: Elegant design. Sturdy and durable. Works superbly well. Extremely accurate, (very) small and lightweight, feels wonderful as you glide your fingers across the keyboard. On top of all that, seamless operation with Leopard, Tiger AND Vista.

Price: $80.00

Alternatives: Logitech diNovo Edge, Logitech Cordless Desktop S510

EXTERNAL HARDDRIVE

Recommendation: Western Digital My Passport Essential 500GB

Why?: Uprecedented amount of space for it's weight and size. It's pocket size, flawless performance and very practical - all at a fair price.

Price: $120

Alternatives: Toshiba 320GB Portable External, Iomega eGo Rugged Portable 320GB

USB DRIVE

Recommendation: Kingston DT100/8GB Data Traveler

Why?: 8GB on a usb drive! Above all, convenient, easy to use, small and reliable.

Alternatives: iPhone, HP 8GB USB Flash Drive

Price: $30

BAG

Recommendation: Incase nylon sling pack

Why?: Comfortable, solid protection and padding for your laptop, feels very well made. Lightweight and very slim - so no more smacking into people as you turnround. Works with laptops up to 17 inches. Features a lovely integrated fur compartment for your laptop as well as plenty of space for your iPod and other accessories.

Price: $80

Alternatives: Mobile Edge MEEN01 Express Tote ($30)

MOBILE PRINTER

Recommendation: Canon Pixma iP90v Photo Inkjet Printer

Why?: Small, dinky and portable. Prints pages at a decent speed and color photos come out very well if you're using it for that. Set up is a peice of cake however one drawback, make sure you have a usb cable and buy a few spare ink cartridges as they run out faster than your normal sized ones. Also, a superb price as it is currently on sale at Amazon!

Price: $200+ (currently on sale at Amazon for $151)

Alternatives: Canon iP100, HP Deskjet 460c Mobile Printer

MOBILE SCANNER

Recommendation: Canoscan LiDE 90 (PC/MAC)

Price: $90

Why?: Great value. Just over A4 in size and about 2cm in depth Completely USB powered, extremely convenient and lightweight. Resolution is up to 2400x4800 dpi and scan speeds of approx 15 seconds. Works well with both PC and Mac.

Alternatives: Scansnap USB 10PG Adf Mobile Scanner (pc/mac), Pentax DSmobile 600 Scanner (pc)

WEBCAM

Recommendation: Logitech Quickcam Pro 9000

Price: $80

Why?: Hassle free installation with XP and Vista. Superb picture quality. The Right Light function works very well even in the dullest conditions. If you want a good webcam for Skype, this is it!

Alternatives: Philips SPC900NC PC Web Camera

BLUETOOTH HEADSET

Recommendation: NoiseAssassin-Jawbone II

Price: $110

Why?: Easy to setup, slick to look at, comfortable to wear (at least in my ear). Works well with all bluetooth enabled phones and computers. Definitely does a superb job with controlling levels of background noise - just make sure the headset is actually touching your jaw or else it doesn't do it's job properly.

Alternatives: Plantronics Discovery 925

PORTABLE CAMCORDER

Recommendation: Sanyo Xacti HD1010

Price: $700

Why?: Easy to use out of the box. Brilliant quality image. Practical. Beautifull little camera. Video quality is vivid and crisp. Perfect if you want something you can pull out fast and record.

Alternatives: Samsung mx 20 "YouTube" Camcorder, Sanyo Xacti VPC-HD700

PORTABLE MEDIA PLAYER

Recommendation: iPod Touch

Price: $400

Why?: It's not perfect however you'd be hard pressed to find a better all round device at this size out there. Glorious screen quality and device build. Setup is elegant and straight forward as you would expect. Navigation is equally impressive. Youtube is so easily accessible, accessing e-mails works flawlessly, battery lasts well to listen to music but runs low fast when on the youtube or internet. For such a small thing it can do so much: Games, Calendar, Mail, Internet, Music, Movies, Apps... What are you waiting for? The only real competition in my mind is the iPhone.

Alternatives: Archos 605 Wifi, Microsoft Zune

HEADPHONES

Recommendation: Shure Se210 Sound Isolating Earphones

Price: $130.00

Why?: Perfect to travel with and maybe even miss your flight! Shure's Se210 are in a completely different league. Having used a variety of high spec headphones over the years, Shure stands well above the crowd. An amazing piece of ingenuity. The clarity is astonishing, hearing notes I previously did not. The mid's and high's are exceptional, and the bass is perfect.

Alternatives: Sennheiser CX 95, Klipsch Image

USB HUB

Recommendation: Any Brand

Price: -

Why?: Frankly, I have personally bought a number of USB hubs from ebay over the years and have yet to have one problem. I highly recommend going for the cheapest option which ever that may be. If you're a brand fan and looks are a very high priority however, the two options below should suit you fine

Alternatives: Belkin Hi-Speed USB 2.0 7-Port Mobile Hub, Cables To Go 7 Port USB

3 PLUG ADAPTOR

Recommendation: Monster 4 Outlet Mini Power Strip

Price: $15.00

Why?: Handy. There is always a shortage of power points when you need one. This compact power strip is a perfect for travel and obviously a doddle to use.

The Unnecessaries but Oh So Cool

LIVESCRIBE SMART PEN

What is it? A smart pen that digitally records everything you write and hear. You do however require special paper embedded with thousands of almost invisible dots for the pen to work - these are only $5 for a set of pads though. The recordings are transferred to a computer through a USB docking cradle. Notes can even be shared online and Livescribe gives 250 MB of storage space for free.

Price: $149 for the 1 GB version or $199 for the 2 GB model.

APPLE AIRPORT EXPRESS

What is it? A tiny adaptor size device whicn you plug it into your room's socket, plug in the hotel's Ethernet cable and voila, you have wifi.

Price: $80

Alternative: Linksys WTR54GS

AMAZON KINDLE

What is it? Essentially, an e-book reader launched by Amazon. It uses an electronic paper display and reads Amazons propriertary Kindle format (AZW) and downloads ebooks directly from Amazon.com.

Price: $359

Alternatives: Sony Reader

Next in the Series

Part 2: The Browser. How the browser will increasing play a vital part in the development of digital office. This post will be a run down of tips, tricks and features to make the browser work for you and your team.

Part 3: Web Apps, Desktop Apps & Integration. This will revisit the deskapp to webapp conundrum and the recent developments which have quite possibly sealed the argument.

Part 4: Tools & Services both Online & Off. An illustration of the best tools and services out there which combine to create the digital office.

Part 5: Portability, the iPhone & Mobile Web. This will cover portability and the mobile web, in putting the finishing touches to the new work way.

Top image credit: moriza